Publication Date
Spring 5-4-2023
Document Type
Student Project
First Advisor
Olson, Janet
Degree Name
B.S. (Bachelor of Science)
Department
School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders
Abstract
Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) had large impacts on the daily lives of many in the United States from 2020 to 2023. COVID-19 caused country-wide school closures starting in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 school year. Closures had a particularly significant impact on children receiving special education services. In addition, COVID-19 had an impact on Asian-American families with many reporting an increase in Anti-Asian discrimination due to the origin of the COVID-19 virus. However, it was not known if Asian-American families experienced increases in discrimination that may have impacted their children's special education services or if their experiences with special education services and discrimination changed as the pandemic continued. Therefore, participants who identified as Asian or Asian-American were recruited to complete an anonymous, 10–15-minute survey using the NIU Qualtrics platform. The questionnaire included questions about participants’ background demographics, the types of special education services their child received in 2020 and 2023, how COVID-19 affected their child’s access to intervention and their perceived quality of those services, and caregiver’s experiences with discrimination. Preliminary reports about one family’s experience with special education services and Asian discrimination during COVID-19 indicated that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on that family’s access to and satisfaction with their child's special education services. They reported a small disruption in special education services at the beginning of the pandemic that was resolved by 2023. This caregiver's perception of discrimination was low before the COVID-19 pandemic, but they reported a slight increase in discrimination at the beginning of the pandemic that decreased from 2020 to 2023. Although more participants are necessary to draw further conclusions, it’s important to understand how caregiver’s perceptions of the quality of special education services and Anti-Asian discrimination might have changed as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed.
Recommended Citation
Cabang, Angelika A. and Olson, Janet, "Perceptions of discrimination and intervention services by Asian and Asian-American caregivers of children with disabilities throughout the duration of COVID-19" (2023). Honors Capstones. 1455.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/studentengagement-honorscapstones/1455
